Pakistan plants 1 billionth tree to help reverse deforestation

August 15, 2017

Aug. 13 (UPI) — A plan to plant 1 billion trees in Pakistan to help offset deforestation was achieved this month, Pakistani provincial leader Imran Khan said.Khan, a former cricket star, began the Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation Project in 2015 to reverse the trend of heavy deforestation in the region. The initiative’s goal was to hit the 1 billion tree mark by the end of 2017, and organizers met it nearly five months ahead of schedule.“If you plant trees, we have discovered, by the river banks it sustains the rivers. But most importantly, the glaciers that are melting in the mountains, and one of the biggest reasons is because there has been a massive deforestation. So, this billion tree is very significant for our future,” Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, told Voice of America.The trees were planted in Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Inger Anderson, director general of the International …READ MORE ON UPI.COM